katy gilmore….the art of everyday

Main menu

Post navigation

Spinach and Leek Scapes

So much spinach! A big produce bagful from the CSA, when balanced on my tiny scale, weighed the perfect nine or ten ounces for a Spinach Feta Rice Casserole suggested by the farmer in the CSA newsletter. The farmer (Karyn Williams, Red Dog Farm) wrote feta in the title, but calls for cheddar in the recipe. I used Cotija – it’s that sort of forgiving casserole.

Planning ahead for a change, I made brown rice the day before. Then, while all the spinach (along with one tablespoon of water) wilted in a big pot, I mixed the rice with two beaten eggs, a third-cup of milk, two leek scapes (cut into half inch pieces), and a half-teaspoon salt. The recipe called for a cup of shredded sharp cheddar and half-tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (I used less cheese and Tamari sauce).

When the spinach is wilted, it’s added to the other ingredients and poured into an oiled baking dish. Bake at 325° for 40 minutes or so – till golden brown and set firmly.

We don’t eat so many casseroles these days as in old cooking-for-kids’ meals. I like popping the dish in the oven and having free time – happy as the aroma drifts upstairs to my worktable – but this time I gave in to the partially finished jigsaw puzzle left by departing houseguests. I wanted to just put it back in the box – but how can you leave all those jagged holes in blue sky?

Later, the blue sky intact, we ate the casserole (and discovered leek scapes, crunchy and flavorful in a salad, turn tender and flavorful when cooked) along with a salad layered with CSA fresh red butter lettuce, Haurei turnips, and pea greens.

Share this:

Related

2 thoughts on “Spinach and Leek Scapes”

yum! and this–“I like popping the dish in the oven and having free time”–I was just saying the same thing to my dad. A bit of prep, then 40 minutes in the oven while you do something else … or nothing else, like stare out the window. My kind of cooking🙂 xo

Katy, thanks for this recipe! I’m making it for dinner tonight with spinach from the neighbor’s garden. It sounds like a perfect dish on this wet, cold June day in Colorado. Are leek scapes the white part of leeks, or are they young leeks? I even have some cooked brown rice… I often cook a large quantity of brown rice to have on hand during the week or to freeze for future meals. Trader Joe’s “Brown Basmati Rice from India” is my new favorite – it never gets mushy.
We always look forward to all these essays and paintings on your blog…such wonderful, intimate observations of your small part of the world in Port Townsend.